Protected Area Management Coursework Masters Degree Programme

The Centre For Environment, Agriculture And Development (Cead)

Vision

To be the international centre of choice for learning and community engagement in African natural resources use and conservation, wealth creation, and sustainable agriculture. Furthermore to be the leading centre that fosters Africa's contribution in these areas of scholarship and practice. The Centre is located in the Faculty of Science and Agriculture.

Mission

To pursue a range of focused programmes which integrate research, education, application and community engagement in the aligned fields of:

• Systems approaches to management;
• Sustainable rural livelihood systems and ecosystem services;
• Environmental and conservation management;
• Sustainable agriculture;
• Land information management;
• Agricultural extension and entrepreneurial development.

The Centre offers a broad range of services in teaching, research and community development aimed at delivering:

• Qualified professionals
• Knowledge imparted and presented in various forms
• Improved human resources at grass-roots level

The Centre was established in 1996 with the primary purpose of providing professional training at the postgraduate level for students interested in the interface between environment and development and research opportunities.

Humans have been the cause of many of the world's problems, ranging from the destruction of once-pristine landscapes to strident battles for the use of resources. Inspired individuals, governments, non-governmental organisations and businesses, on the other hand, are providing the vision and actions for moving towards sustainable use of the planet in the 21st Century. The challenges remain enormous - CEAD provides a home for exploring these challenges. There are three fields of specialization:

• Environmental Management;
• Land Information Management, and;
• Protected Area Management - the focus of this brochure.

A PhD programme provides opportunities for students to continue their studies and provides the foundation for the recently launched People and Conservation Programme (PACP).

The International Centre For Protected Landscapes

The International Centre for Protected Landscapes (ICPL) was founded within the University of Wales in 1990. Based in the coastal town of Aberystwyth, west Wales (UK), the Centre became an independent NGO in 2002. ICPL's partnership activities extend to eastern and southern Africa, South Asia, the South Pacific and Central Europe.

Mission

To work in partnership with organisations and institutions world-wide to safeguard and enhance both natural and cultural resources, within viable programmes of social and economic development.

ICPL's name is taken from the World Conservation Union's (IUCN) protected area Category V - protected landscapes - where the focus is on the interaction of people and nature - a focus now recognised as central to the management of all protected areas and the wider rural environment.

Purpose And Requirements Of The New Distance Based PAM Programme

The purpose of the programme is to develop a new cadre of Protected Area Managers with the management, leadership, research skills and expertise to enable them to effectively integrate biodiversity conservation & people.

The Protected Area Management Masters Programme:

• offers a high quality professional masters' degree, which;
• enables students to develop an integrated theoretical and conceptual foundation to protected area management, and;
• is based on developing new management skills and practices linking people with conservation.

The degree has been designed so that:

1. all modules are linked together to form an integrated whole so that students can identify the relations between all parts of the programme;
2. students understand the conceptual frameworks/models within a wider global context, and can apply them within the specific regional/national contexts within which they work, thus;
3. resulting in changes in attitude, management strategies and approaches of the students in their work, including
4. the capacity to use research to underpin policy and management strategies.

Structure And Outcomes Of The Pam Programme

The programme is structured so as to give the students opportunity to study and apply the theory to practice as they progress through the course-work modules. There are four core modules and one elective module followed by a research dissertation. Once the course-work has been completed, and provided that the students have fulfilled the University requirements, they progress to the research component of the programme and submit a dissertation to complete the degree requirements (See figure 1)

As each module is designed to build on those preceding it, all students will start with module 1 and progress through to module 4 and then complete their elective (module5). This course-work programme is expected to take the equivalent of two semesters of study (640 notional hours of learning). The students' work for each module is marked and moderated and they must pass the module (50% or more) before they can progress to the next module. Once students have satisfied the University's requirements in respect of the course-work component of the programme, they are able to progress to the research component and submit a dissertation to fulfil the programme requirements. The full programme including dissertation takes between 2 - 5 years depending on the time the students are able to devote to their studies.

Programme outcomes

The programme is structured and managed to fulfil all of the South African Quality Assurance outcomes criteria and the University's own requirements.

Having completed this programme, students should be able to:

1. Demonstrate an understanding of old and new paradigms of conservation management, and analyse and debate related approaches to protected area management.
2. Identify and manage the complex relationships between conservation and human development.
3. Work effectively within the context of ongoing processes of socio-economic and political change.
4. Demonstrate an understanding of how the legal framework shapes organisational culture and management.
5. Identify the skills and attributes needed for implementing protected area management.
6. Operate within an action-based and interdisciplinary learning context.
7. Integrate research into protected area management and policy processes.

Course-work                 64 Credits

Mini-dissertation Research  64 Credits

Total Programme             128 Credits

Programme Modules

Module 1 - Foundations of Protected Area Management.

This module presents the underlying concepts and frameworks of protected area management. It addresses the conceptual foundation of protected areas, examining in particular the development of ideas that have led to the current position, the various models of protected areas that exist today, and scenarios for the future. It takes further the emerging trend for protected area management that seeks to integrate conservation and human development.

Module 2 - Policy Foundations

The module introduces models and legal/policy frameworks for integration; and looks at the real world barriers that challenge this notion. It also asserts the central importance of engaging people in conservation in order to achieve integration and the effective management of protected areas.

Module 3 - Protected Area Systems and Approaches

This module addresses the fundamental core of protected area management. It covers organisational and human resource management, financial management and operational management. Of particular importance to candidates are the tools for operational management: the role of law and legal frameworks, how to develop strategies, specific policies and work programmes for management plans; how to monitor and evaluate activities; and how to measure the effectiveness of management.

Module 4 - Tools and Skills for Participatory Management

The module provides the candidates with the essential tools for working with people in the management of protected areas. Running through the whole programme is the notion of integration and the importance of people in conservation. This module therefore covers communication, negotiation and mediation, conflict resolution and consensus building, awareness raising; participatory techniques; collaborative and community-based management, and the role of policy and governance in protected area management.

Module 5 - Elective

This module provides students with optional specialisms to complete their course-work studies. Students select one of following modules:

• Tourism - Theory & Practice
• Wilderness Concepts and Practice
• Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for protected area management

Your Team At CEAD

Professor Rob Fincham is the Director of CEAD and heads up research in areas such as ecosystems and human health and entrepreneurial development. He is also closely involved in issues of sustainable development (SD) and the implementation of SD for University research and administration.

Dr Mark Dent is the PAM Programme Director and he has a wealth of experience in natural resource management, organisational leadership, change management and business administration.

Drummond Densham has wide experience in protected area management in KwaZulu-Natal and further afield and co-ordinates the programme to ensure that the students receive support during their studies.

Mrs Philippa McCosh and Mrs Kerry-Ann Jordaan maintain contact with students and oversee the administrative aspects of the programme.

Your Team At ICPL

Dr. Liz Hughes is Executive Director of ICPL. Her particular interests are in the field of partnership-building and collaborative management, and in the contribution of protected areas to sustainable livelihoods and poverty alleviation. She has had 10 years' experience of managing and tutoring the Centre's own distance learning MSc programme in 'Protected Landscape Management' and other post-graduate programmes

Charlie Falzon, (BEd MSc) has been working for ICPL since 1992, prior to which he was a teacher, and then Training and Development Officer for the Peak National Park. Charlie taught on the ICPL's MSc course, and helped to develop the Centre's original Distance-Learning modules. His work at ICPL currently entails the organisation and facilitation of workshops and training programmes both in the UK and worldwide.

Mentors

Mentors are appointed from higher education institutions in Africa, and at a later stage in Africa, to work with the Programme Director in the support of students. The mentors assist students in their course-work and studies. They can also facilitate student access to electronic communications and libraries where these are not readily available to students working in the field. The mentors work closely with the Programme Director and students throughout the programme, primarily by means of regular and frequent electronic communication.

Communications

While basic teaching materials are primarily in hard copy, delivery of this distance learning programme relies heavily on electronic communications by e-mail, internet, tele- and video- conferences, and telephone. Applicants must be able to access information technology but can negotiate with the Programme Director how this can best be done to suit their circumstances.

Electronic communications allow regular and effective contact between the Programme Director, coursework staff, students and mentors, as well as encouraging academic and social interaction within the student body.

All course assignments are sent to the Centre electronically to facilitate a quick response to students' submissions.

Entry Requirement

Any holder of a relevant Honours or four-year Bachelors degree of the University of UKZN or graduate of another recognised university.

Applicants who have relevant work experience, deemed to be equivalent to an Honours or four-year degree, may on submission of an adequate portfolio of prior work, be admitted into the programme by permission of the Senate.

Course Fees

The fees for the course are supplied on request. These include the cost of the course-work materials and textbooks to undertake the studies and their assessments.

CENTRE FOR ENVIRONMENT, AGRICULTURE AND DEVELOPMENT

UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU-NATAL, PIETERMARITZBURG, KWAZULU-NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA

Private Bag X01,
Scottsville, 3209
South Africa

Telephone +27 (0) 33 260 6223 or 260 5775
Fax. +27 (0) 260 6118
E-mail:<secenvd@ukzn.ac.za>
Website: www.cead.org.za